Jamshedpur: ASI Dharmendra gets life term in Varsha murder case

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, Feb 28: The court of Principal District and Sessions Judge Anil Kumar Mishra of Jamshedpur sentenced Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Dharmendra Singh to life imprisonment in the sensational Varsha Patel murder case.

The ASI was convicted on 26^th February last. The verdict comes after 15 months. Laxmi Patel, mother of late Varsha Patel, who had earlier demanded death sentence for Dharmendra, said she was satisfied by the verdict.

A total of nine witnesses had deposed against the ASI in this case which dates back to 12^th November 2021 when the accused had brutally killed Varsha Patel, resident of Kosi Road, South Park, Bistupur. He had allegedly reached Varsha’s house around 7 pm before her arrival on that day. Arouind 10 pm, he had reached his house on his bike with Varsha. On entering his house, he first hit her head against the wall. When Varsha fell on the floor, he pressed her neck and mouth. After she died of suffocation, he checked her pulse to see if she was still alive. Later, he took a security guard of his building to Mango Bridge and threw two bags into Swarnarekha river. Thereafter he went to a pond near IS&WP company in Telco and dumped Varsha’s body. The body was recovered by police on 18^th November.

Varsha’s family members lodged a missing person report at Sakchi police station. Her body was identified by her sister. Initially police had three suspects—Dharmendra, driver Jimmy and Varsha’s former husband—but later it turned out that Dharmendra had killed Varsha. The ASI was arrested from his village. He confessed his crime during interrogation and said he had killed Varsha after she had started an affair with Jimmy. After several rounds of quarrel, Dharmendra finally killed Varsha, police had said.